If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

unless of course your goal is to expose your bees to as much disease and pests as possible in order to weed out the ones that can't survive on their own, in which case you would want as many nosema spores remaining on that comb as you can get.

journaling the growth of a treatment free apiary started in 2010. 20+/- hives

Re: Ask Questions Here!

People are so pedantic in this thread. You offer knowledge, but belittle anyone in seek of answers that aren't in your immediate field of experience. Rather than offer assistance, people offer snide remarks and chastise anyone who doesn't think the same way as they do. Undoubtedly it's a no brainer to you squarepeg, if it wasn't you would probably be asking the question and hoping for guidance instead of snide remarks. I thought this thread was asking about questions Solomon, not what Solomon's first hand experience was, if I wanted that I could read a blog. What I wanted was the opinion of treatment free beeks who tout they've been doing this successfully for years, not the snide remarks of snippy people.

We the willing have done so much with so little for so long we can now do anything with nothing

Re: Ask Questions Here!

i agree moon, (i had to look up pedantic).

and i do i apologize, my remark was snide.

the problem is that there is no such thing as a 'treatment free world'. what i mean by that is that sol has his approach and definition of what treatment free is, and others who tout being treatment free may have differing ideas.

if you are asking what could be done as a precautionary measure to comb obtained by from a confirmed nosema dead out, and if you are not concerned that you might be breaking some unwritten rule in the 'treatment free world',

then i would recommend using bleach diluted to 10% with water, mist the comb well, and let it dry thoroughly.

journaling the growth of a treatment free apiary started in 2010. 20+/- hives

Re: Ask Questions Here!

Moon, I'm happy to share my experience. If you want the conjecture and wild hare brained theories of people who have never actually done what they're talking about, you're welcome to it. It wont be coming from me.

Like my website says, I am not telling you how to do it, but I will tell you how it can be done because despite the hoards who have told me it can't be done, I'm still doing it. Predicted crashes have not come. No one grants me the term 'success.' I don't care.

This is very simple. If you want to ask ME questions, ask and you will get honest answers. If you want to run off topic, start your own thread and you can ask for any sort of question you want. I wont complain. There are precious few knowledgeable treatment free beekeepers out there. Perhaps you should be thankful for what information you can find from those who actually did what they talk about.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

and i hear what you are saying to moon and others, this is the ask sol thread after all.

and i hope you will take this in the spirit in it is given...

Originally Posted by Solomon Parker

I have not had any nosema problems, so I can't speak from any experience on that issue.

you had mentioned in previous posts that you allow for natural selection in you apiary, and by treatment free you allow hives to perish if that is their natural course, i.e. no intervention. 23 out of 23 for this season is awesome, and it appears you have accomplished your objective. congratulations.

but the hives lost along the way to get there have a story to tell as well. they all died for some reason or another, or combinations of reasons. the question that was never answered, (if i understand and recall what you have shared in previous posts), is that you never initiated any kind of formal autosopy, i.e. not mite counts, nosema spore counts, ect.

perhaps some of your deadouts could have been from nosema, perhaps not. it would more accurate to say that you have never taken any action regarding nosema.

using diluted bleach to sanitize comb out of a dead out is something that the old beekeepers here have been doing for decades. i have had the opportunity to use that technique once or twice, and if that makes me not treatment free by another's defintion, well, ok.

moon, i regret the way i sounded in my previous two posts, i pledge to improve on my tone.

and sol, if you have carved this thread out to be a question/answer forum for just you and whoever asks, i can respect that.

for me, in a perfect world (forum) the most is gained with the free flow of ideas from all who care to contribute.

with respect,

kevin

journaling the growth of a treatment free apiary started in 2010. 20+/- hives

Re: Ask Questions Here!

I don't get it. The thread topic is "Ask Questions Here".

But even if there was a particular topic, which in this case there isn't, just because I start a thread does not mean I haven't had people derail it. I've even had threads I started derailed by you Sol. To me, it doesn't matter, you just move on, if people want to ask questions here they'll do it.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

Question - "Super" rotation. I've read a lot of material here about NOT rotating supers. I'm in agreement with the concept but have a question. My lone surviving hive is made up of a deep and a medium. The bees are at the top of the deep and into the medium which still contains lots of honey. Our weather is still quite cool here in central oregon so I have not opened up the hive for a close look yet. My question is this. Assuming the bottom deep is basically empty - just drawn comb, will the bees work themselves back down into the deep if I leave things just as they are? The medium on top of the deep will be mostly honey but some empty comb, depending on how much of the honey stores they use.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

They should work their way back down. They should. They don't always do as they should though, as any experienced beekeeper will tell you. They might choose to swarm or something before completing the task.

What the gentleman spoke of regarding rotating brood boxes seemed to refer to situations where rotating the boxes would cause disruptions because there was brood in both boxes. If your bottom box is completely empty, I wouldn't be very concerned about that happening if you were to put that box somewhere else as long as you weren't disrupting the brood nest. I'm not entirely sure that's the case though. If all you have is a deep and a medium, I'd recommend leaving it alone. Let them build up a bit and see where it goes.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

Dear Solomon:
I have a never-used Lang, and I read somewhere that an empty hive can be placed in the vicinity of other hives in hopes of providing a hive option for a swarm. Do you ever place empties on your property for this reason?

Re: Ask Questions Here!

Sondra,
I do. I don't usually use empty hives, I usually use empty five frame nucs. Not completely empty, they usually have four frames of foundation and one frame of comb. They also usually have some sort of swarm lure, either the commercially available ones or my homebrew type, a combination of lemongrass oil and a dash of alcohol that has had old dead queens soaking in it. I use the same setup for swarm lures around the countryside. I have caught a good number of local wild swarms that way. Wild swarms are usually very small here. Anything larger than two frames and I consider it to be from a kept hive.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

I don't follow you enough on the forums to know exactly how you perform your inspections so if you've answered this elsewhere I apologize for asking again.

From your blog: New Rule
If you wave your hand over an open hive and bees fly up to sting it, requeen.

Is this with or without smoking the hive? Is this in the instance of a flow or dearth? Do you think intentionally breeding bees that lack any kind of defensive behavior towards an intruder is a good quality or a bad quality? Do you have skunks in your area?

We the willing have done so much with so little for so long we can now do anything with nothing

Re: Ask Questions Here!

That is without smoking the hive, good weather.

I don't think breeding bees without any kind of defensive behavior is a good idea and I don't know of anyone who does it.

I do have skunks in my area.

I expect to be able to take the lid off a hive and to work it gently and deliberately without being attacked and without smoke. I keep a lit smoker with me in case it is necessary. I don't work with gloves so gentle bees are a must. That post was in response to my last mean hive that I have not requeened yet. If I open the lid and pass my hand above the hive, about 8" up, my hand will be attacked. May not be stung immediately, but mean bees are a liability as well as an annoyance. I get stung enough not to have any sort of a reaction, but it still really hurts, especially when I get stung under the fingernail like happened right before I posted that.

Re: Ask Questions Here!

Hello! I am getting my first 6 packages of bees soon! I am starting them in 8 frame med. boxes with foundationless frames from woodlynbrand. What is the preferred method of introducing the queen? Just release her? Hang the cage in one of my frames? Thanks!

Re: Ask Questions Here!

> What is the preferred method of introducing the queen? Just release her? Hang the cage in one of my frames?

The preferred method seems to be to hang the cage. In the case of foundationless, this results in messed up comb. If I tell you to direct release her and they abscond, you'll think releasing her was why, but in my experience, they will move next door if they don't like the queen, even if she is in a cage... I direct release.